I went to the Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House on Monday to see the 'Becoming Picasso' exhibition, which centred on the significant year of 1901 -- during which Picasso became an established painter (or, as the gallery puts it, Picasso's 'remarkable breakthrough year as an artist'). There was some amazing work on display, including his beautiful 'Child with a Dove' painting (see below), which is one of my favourites. At the other end of the spectrum, last Friday I went to see Pedro Almodovar's latest, 'I'm So Excited', which I thought was really terrible! I loved many of his other films - All About My Mother, Volver, Bad Education, etc. -- but this was so lacking in subtlety (and feeling) that I found it really disappointing. 'Proper' critics weren't as scathing but still had issues with it: see what Peter Bradshaw thought in The Guardian...
